Shipping envelope



Sept. 5, 1967 5. J. BESKIND SHIPPING ENVELOPE Filed Aug. 26, 1966 FIG.1

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INVENTOR SronleyJ. Beskind M TORNEYS United, States Patent 0.

3,339,826 SHIPPING ENVELOPE Stanley J. Beskind, 32 Stony Brook Road, Westport, Conn. 06880 Filed Aug. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 575,348 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-68) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A water-impervious shipping envelope is formed from two superimposed sheets of water-impervious material completely sealed to one another around the peripheries of the sheets,-one surface of the resulting envelope being provided with an adhesive layer and the same surface having a out line through which the envelope contents can be inserted but which will be sealed by securing the adhesive-bearing surface to an article it is to accompany.

This invention relates to envelopes and, more particularly, to self-adherent shipping envelopes of the type used to enclose a paper accompanying a package or a piece of equipment, or the like.

It is conventional practice to enclose an invoice, a packing list, instruction sheet, punch card, or the like, in an envelope and then secure the envelope to a package to which it pertains. The most common type of envelope used for this purpose consists of a front panel and a back panel of water-impervious material such as polyethylene sheet. One end of the front panel extends beyond the corresponding end of the back panel to form a closure flap, and the other three sides of the back panel are sealed to the corresponding marginal portions of the front panel by adhesive or by heat sealing. The outer surface of the back panel carries a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive which is covered by a protective layer of release paper. A paper to accompany a package is inserted in the open end of the envelope, then the protective paper layer is pulled Off, the flap end of the front panel is folded back onto the adhesive-carrying surface of the back panel, and the thus-closed enveloped is secured to the package by means of the remaining exposed portion of the adhesive layer on the back surface of the envelope. Unless the front panel flap is folded back carefully, the corners of the flap are not water-impervious, and in all instances the surface of the folded flap on the back of the sealed envelope is free of adhesive and can catch on other objects with the result that the envelope is frequently torn loose during shipment or handling of the package.

I have now devised a shipping envelope which is completely water-impervious and completely self-adherent to an accompanying package. The shipping envelope of the invention comprises a front wall panel of waterimpervious sheet material, a back wall panel of waterimpervious sheet material substantially coextensive with and in face-to-face contact with the front wall panel, and a water-impervious seal joining the marginal portions of the front and back wall panels along the complete periphery thereof. A layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive is positioned over the entire outer surface of the rear wall panel, and a protective but removable layer of sheet material is positioned in contact with the layer of adhesive. A out line extends through the protective layer, the adhesive layer and the back wall panel of the envelope and extends transversely across the back wall panel so as to provide an access opening for the envelope while the protective backing layer is still in position. In the presently preferred embodiment of the invention the cut line terminates inboard of the seals along two diametrically opposite marginal portions of the resulting envelope.

These and other novel features of the shipping envelope of my invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. '1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of the shipping envelope of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a back elevation, partly broken away, of the shipping envelope;

FIG. 3 is an exploded back isometric view of the envelope showing its components; and

FIG. 4 is a partial back elevation, partly broken away, showing the top portion of another modification of the envelope of the invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the envelope comprises a front wall panel 5 of water-impervious sheet material such as polyethylene,'waterproofed paper, or the like, and a back wall panel 6 of the same or similar material. The front and back wall panels are substantially coextensive and are positioned in face-to-face contact with one another. A water-impervious seal 7 is provided along the complete periphery of the marginal portions of the two panels so as to join them together. The seal is advantageously provided by one or two conventional hot pressure seals which fuse the panels together at the seals, but it can also be provided by one or more marginal lines of conventional adhesive. The outer surface of the back wall panel 6 is provided with an over-all coating of conventional pressure sensitive adhesive 8 which is covered by a protective but removable layer 9 of sheet material commonly known as release paper" and consists advantageously of silicone-coated or waxed heavy paper of sufficient strength so that it can be peeled away from the adhesive. The cover sheet 9 advantageously extends beyond one margin of the back panel 6 to facilitate its being pulled away.

Pursuant to the invention, the composite layer composed of the back wall panel 6, the adhesive layer 8 and the cover sheet 9 is provided with a out line 10 extending transversely of the envelope. The ends of the out line 10 advantageously terminate inboard of two diametrically opposite seals 7. Thus, the only access to the interior of the envelope is through the out line 10 because all four sides of the envelope are completely sealed as explained hereinbefore.

When the envelope of the invention is to be used, a sheet of paper such as an invoice, packing list, instruction, mailing address, punch card, or the like, is inserted through the cut line and into the interior of the envelope. The protective cover sheet 9 is then peeled off to expose the adhesive layer 8 on the outside of the back wall panel 6, and then this adhesive-bearing surface of the back of the envelope is pressed against the surface of a package or equipment which it is to accompany. No folding or closing of a seal flap is required. The adhesive layer 8 completely surrounds the out line 10 in the back wall panel 6 so that the cut line is fully sealed against the surface of the package to prevent access of water or moisture. It will be readily appreciated that the entire back surface of the envelope presents a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive to the surface to which it is attached without leaving any portion of the envelope unsecured.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, all features of the shipping envelope are the same as described hereinbefore except that the cut line 10a extends transversely across the full span of the cover sheet '9, adhesive layer 8 and back wall panel 6. The reason for extending the cut line in this embodiment is to facilitate production of the envelope in automatic machinery, and it has been found that although the cut line 10a extends across the seal 7, the presence of the adhesive 8 on both sides of the cut line adjacent the seals in the back wall panel completely seals and moisture-proofs the cut line when the envelope is secured to a package or other surface. 7

I claim:

1. A substantially water-impervious shipping envelope which is self-sealing and completely self-adherent to other surfaces and which comprises a front wall panel of waterimpervious sheet material, a back wall panel of waterimpervious sheet material substantially coextensive with and in face-to-face contact with the front wall panel, a water-impervious seal jointing the marginal portions of the front and back wall panels along the complete periphery thereof, a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive over the entire outer surface of the rear wall panel, a protective but removable layer of sheet material in contact with said layer of adhesive, and a out line extending through the protective layer, the adhesive layer and the back wall panel and extending transversely across the back wall panel.

2. A shipping enevelope according to claim 1 in which 1 the cut line terminates inboard of the seals along two diametrically opposite marginal portions of the resulting envelope.

3. A shipping envelope according to claim 1 in which the cut line extends across the full span of the back wall panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,921,731 l/1960 Volckening et al. 3,155,234 11/1964 Knoll et al 229-68 3,159,930 12/1964 Allen et a1. 22937 3,250,385 5/1966 Timms 206-56 FOREIGN PATENTS 771,789 4/1957 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

D. M. BOCKENEK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SUBSTANTIALLY WATER-IMPERVIOUS SHIPPING ENVELOPE WHICH IS SELF-SEALING AND COMPLETELY SELF-ADHERENT TO OTHER SURFACES AND WHICH COMPRISES A FRONT WALL PANEL OF WATERIMPERVIOUS SHEET MATERIAL, A BACK WALL PANEL OF WATERIMPERVIOUS SHEET MATERIAL SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH AND IN FACE-TO-FACE CONTACT WITH THE FRONT WALL PANEL, A WATER-IMPERVIOUS SEAL JOINTING THE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALL PANELS ALONG THE COMPLETE PERIPHERY THEREOF, A LAYER OF PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE OVER THE ENTIRE OUTER SURFACE OF THE REAR WALL PANEL, A PROTECTIVE BUT REMOVABLE LAYER OF SHEET MATERIAL IN CONTACT WITH SAID LAYER OF ADHESIVE, AND A CUT LINE EXTENDING THROUGH THE PROTECTIVE LAYER, THE ADHESIVE LAYER AND THE BACK WALL PANEL AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY ACROSS THE BACK WALL PANEL. 